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There are a number of instances where signs of decline are a reason to panic. For example, your car starts making a scraping noise every time you press the brakes (time for a tune up); last summer, you could touch your toes, but this summer it’s been a little tricky (time to visit the physio); you have to run the dryer six times before your clothes actually dry (time to clean the vent).

There are a number of instances where signs of decline are a reason to panic; I want to suggest to you this morning that reports of declining membership in mainline churches is not one of them. 

Earlier this week, JJ Rajan, a member here at St Clement’s, shared an article on Facebook. The article was called, “The Collapse of the Anglican Church of Canada.” It’s written by David Goodhew, a Church of England priest and researcher at St John’s College, Durham. In the article, Reverend Goodhew declares that the Anglican Church of Canada has not only declined, but entirely collapsed. He cites all kinds of statistics: Sunday attendance, number of children in Sunday School. He says, “in baptismal terms, [the Anglican Church of Canada] no longer meaningfully exists now.”

He calls the collapse an “extinction-level event.” He goes on to say, sure, there are “pockets of vitality” here and there, congregations that are flourishing. He doesn't spend any time telling those stories, though. Nor does he talk about how the collapse of the old establishment has become the embers of new life. Sure, the 3500 baptisms in Canada last year are only a fraction of the 40 000 in the 1960s. So, why not talk to those 3500 who did get baptised, and ask them why in this so-called age of decline they were nevertheless inspired to follow Jesus?

No, Reverend Goodhew didn’t seem to have time or patience for that kind of study. Only that the collapse of the Anglican Church of Canada is due to “listing violently in a progressive direction  . . . its adoption of progressive causes sidelin[ing] its attempt to call people to follow Jesus, and the formation and nurture of congregations.”

You may have guessed that I’m not a fan of Reverend Goodhew’s article. I wouldn’t ordinarily call out a colleague’s work from the pulpit. Maybe it’s because he’s English and I’m English, he works at Durham University, I went to Durham University? A sibling rivalry? Or, like arguing with an uncle? I don’t know. It just feels like there’s something ironic about a priest in England, writing about the decline of the Anglican Church of Canada without having spent any meaningful time in its congregations, going on to write: “If you want to change a place, you form a community of believers in that place. Not external, parachuted in; but incarnated, enfleshed, there.” 

I want to ring him up (and perhaps I will?) and say, “I’m calling from St Clement’s in the ‘godless’ city of North Vancouver. In the past three years, our Sunday attendance has doubled and the number of baptisms tripled. All under the leadership of two grey-haired deacons (no disrespect, Peggy and Elizabeth); a lesbian minister; and a music director who two weeks ago played us down to coffee hour to the immortal words of the Y.M.C.A.” 

“Wait till I tell you about the Parish Council!”

I want to say this, but instead I think I’ll say what JJ said in response to Reverend Goodhew’s article. (JJ’s response is much wiser—and less spicy). JJ said, “I believe that God is at work -rebuilding the Church more in Their image.”*

Amen, JJ. Friends, when I arrived at St Clement’s three years ago, every church news outlet in the world was writing about how Covid-19 or progressive theology or whatever was going to lead to the collapse of the Anglican Church. The Church, in so far as it exists to be a community of Jesus-believers showing up in this time and place in the skin we find ourselves in, this Church cannot be collapsed. There’s a reason why, whether there are 5000 or 5 people gathered around him, Jesus says over and over again, “I am the bread of life; whoever eats of this bread will live forever.” Because bread rises. Because bread is a sign of divine provision, no matter how many or how few people are there to scrape up its crumbs. 

I remember a month ago, when we laid Brian Scharf to rest, Olivia and Kathryn had written in Brian's obituary, “We will miss both the man he was and the man he became.” They were speaking of Brian’s 17 years living with dementia. What a remarkable way to look at decline, even the kind that is serious, the kind that is something to panic about. How much more ought we to love the Church as it once was and the Church as it is today?

So, when you read reports that the Church is declining, or the next time someone says to you that the Anglican Church of Canada has collapsed, please don’t panic. Tell them to turn on the Y.M.C.A. and relax a little! 

Only joking. Tell them that God is at work rebuilding the Church more in God’s image. Tell them there are churches that are closing and merging with other congregations so their ministry can continue. Tell them there are churches that are turning their buildings into housing, so their congregations can meet on the ground floor and continue as a meaningful presence in their neighbourhoods. Tell them that in the next two weeks, St Clement’s will baptise a baby and then a 40-year old because it’s never too early and never too late to follow Jesus. Tell them to come and see for themselves! Amen. 


*JJ says this was inspired by Jehu Hanciles, “Global Migration and Christian Witness” (Vancouver School of Theology) accessed online.